Quote: ...KATRINA NOW A CATEGORY FIVE HURRICANE WITH 160 MPH WINDS...
I had wondered after that last recon...it was NW to SE, max fl winds 144kt, and I thought where are the numbers for the NE quad? With 915mb and 12 deg temp diff, that was the only thing missing for Cat 5 status.
Because so much is riding on this, I think NHC was waiting for more data to see if it was transient or if it was solid, to make the call.